


(the burden of) another soul

by rarmaster



Series: (who's gonna) Save the World [7]
Category: Homestuck, Metal Gear, Tales of Symphonia, Xenoblade Chronicles, 悪魔城ドラキュラ 暁月の円舞曲 と 蒼月の十字架 | Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Dawn of Sorrow
Genre: Gen, Xenoblade Chronicles Spoilers, team f is a mess and i love them!!!!!!, tfw 3/5 of the team is bodysharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 13:16:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15730158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarmaster/pseuds/rarmaster
Summary: Part of theSave the World Crossover. There are rips in the time-space continuum, and these kids gotta try and survive (and, maybe put a stop to it).In which Soma has the best day of his life, and Shulk has probably the second worst day of his life. Jade and Snake and Kratos are just along for the ride, much to Kratos' dismay.Or:Team Fmeets.





	(the burden of) another soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nyxokal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxokal/gifts).



> **MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR XENOBLADE CHRONICLES**
> 
>  
> 
> That out of the way, you can find details on where in their timelines all of these characters were pulled from / other details about their portrayal in this AU on the Team F Page linked in the summary.
> 
> The most important one is that Soma was lovingly stolen from my friend Ruri's AU, from a point after all but the final scene of chapter 8. The short of it is in his bio, but I highly recommend reading [_A Name_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14858117/) if you love Soma Cruz or honestly just bodysharing in general. It's great.

What should have been the first thing on Jade’s mind when she woke up was the fact she was _on top_ of someone, but the thing that registered to her first was the sudden, gaping emptiness in her veins, the lack of burning comfort that usually sat right on the edges of her senses. The Green Sun. Where had it gone?

She didn’t get far in that train of thought when whoever she was laying on top of decided they’d had enough of her and shoved her off, derailing her worry for a moment and bringing her attention to the rest of the situation. Better take inventory real quick.

She had a mouthful of dirt, which she immediately had to spit out.

Her glasses? She pushed herself upright enough to get a hand in a position to check them and blink her eyes through them—they were fine. But she suspected they had the same kind of magic that her god tier outfit did, the kind that mostly kept it from any serious damage.

Speaking of, she was _wearing_ her god tier robes, even though she hadn’t been when she’d gone to bed last night. Weird. Also lame, that shirt had been really cute…

But at least she seemed to be unharmed from her fall, or teleportation, or whatever that was that brought her here.

She tried not to think about the gaping hole the absence of the Green Sun left in her chest.

Jade pushed herself up on her hands and knees, looking around. There was nothing but dirt for as far as she could see, making the more interesting revelation the fact she was one of not two but _three_ people sprawled across the ground. Only one of the two others remained sprawled, though. The person immediately next to her—a well-built man with red hair that could be described no other way than _ridiculous,_ and a purple outfit that just barely hit a qualification just under that, since she had Jake’s god tier getup to compare it to—was sitting upright, now, and he smelled tense. He looked a little tense, too, Jade thought, it was just hard to see his expression under all that _hair_.

He was also almost definitely the poor soul she’d landed on.

“Sorry about landing on you!!” Jade said, because she should probably start with that. “I didn’t mean to, but I still feel awful.”

“It’s fine,” he answered, shortly, kind of like he didn’t want to be having this conversation. Unfun.

“Welllllll, anyway, I’m Jade!” She held out her hand to shake.

He ignored it. “Where are we?” he asked, eyes flickering around at their surroundings, like he hoped to recognize them.

Jade scowled and put her hand back down. She couldn’t believe he’d just leave her hanging like that, how rude. “I… have no idea where we are,” she admitted. It was a jarring feeling, actually. If they’d been on Earth C—or any part of the universe in which Earth C was held—she would have recognized it immediately.

“Hmm,” the man said. “Do you know how we might return to where we came from?”

“Nnnnnnoo,” Jade answered, shaking her head. She reached out with her powers just to be sure, thinking of her bedroom, but—no luck. She could teleport anywhere under the Green Sun, yes, but only if she was under the Green Sun’s influence to begin with. Dammit, not feeling its presence was starting to make her really twitchy!!

The man closed his eyes a moment, a tight expression passing what she could see of his face that made her rethink calling him rude. She wondered if he had something important to get back to. At least she’d just been yanked off of her bed in the middle of the night. Sure, her friends would be worried about her, but she didn’t have anything _dire_ to return to. Feeling sorry for the man, she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, or at least his _name,_ but—

That third person here groaned like he was waking up.

And, sure enough, he was pushing himself upright when Jade turned to get a better look at him. He looked around her age, his hair just the right color and just the right length to give her a pause for a second before she realized she didn’t recognize his face. He didn’t smell like a StriLonde, either. He smelled… weird. Like… More? It was hard to translate the things the Bec-part of her smelled sometimes, but _deeper_ might have been a good word, if only could she explain how a person could be _deeper._

Thinking about it gave her a headache, and she figured it didn’t matter that much, so never mind.

He squinted against the harsh sunlight, then noticed he had company, and jolted to his feet in a practiced jump that meant he _must_ have been trained in fighting of some kind, his hands flying into a defensive position. “Where are we?” he demanded, voice high-pitched with anger. “What do you want with me? God dammit if this is some kind of cult thing, Arikado warned me about—”

“Cult thing???” Jade asked, squinting at him in disbelief.

The other man got to his feet. “Why would I want anything to do with you when I don’t even know who you are,” he said, with a sigh.

Jade got to her feet, too, so she wouldn’t be the only one on the ground. The white-haired guy recoiled a little in surprise, but started to lower his hands.

“Oh,” he said, face scrunching up in confusion. “You don’t??”

“Well, how could we? We’ve only just met!” Jade said, dusting herself off, though it ended up being unnecessary. Magic god tier pajamas just inherently repelled dirt, apparently. “ _And_ you haven’t bothered telling us your name! _Neither_ of you have, actually.” She sent a scowl at the red-haired man. “Here, I’ll start: I’m Jade.”

“Soma,” said the white-haired guy, closing his mouth abruptly in the middle of a second word. His last name, maybe? Whatever, it wasn’t like Jade had given hers.

They both turned expectantly to the red-haired man, who was scanning the horizon and facing away from them. _Boy,_ he looked like he didn’t want to be here, but even if he did have somewhere he needed to get back to, that wasn’t _exactly_ an excuse for being rude! He was silent for so long Jade was almost ready to pester him again, when:

“Kratos,” he said.

“Good!!” Jade said, grinning, _maybe_ a little bit smug. “Now that we’ve actually done introductions, uh!!” Actually, now she wasn’t sure what, exactly. The plan was, of course, to figure out how they got here, and more importantly how to get back, but Jade wasn’t even a little bit certain where to start on that front. “Well,” she began.

Kratos started walking before she could say anymore.

“Hey!!!” Jade called after him, putting her hands on her hips. “You can’t just walk off in the middle of a conversation!!”

“I mean, he can,” Soma said, so matter-of-fact about it was almost smug. She turned her glare to him, and he shrugged, a kind of _don’t-look-at-me_ gesture. “You think we should follow him? Might be a headache, but I don’t know if splitting up is a good idea either.”

“Probably not,” Jade agreed, with a sigh. She hurried to keep up with Kratos, Soma trotting alongside her.

“Hey, any reason we’re heading this direction?” Soma asked, once they’d fallen into step beside Kratos. He was moving at a brisk pace, a little hard to keep up with. Jade was half tempted to just fly, since she was a god and could do that, but that’d be mean to Soma, probably? And Kratos wasn’t moving _that_ fast.

Kratos took a moment to answer Soma. “There are buildings in the distance,” he said finally, and nothing more, like that was explanation enough.

“How do you know _that_??” Jade asked, squinting first at him, then the horizon, putting a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun’s harsh glare. She saw nothing but sand.

“Hm,” Kratos said, instead of an answer.

“Come on, don’t leave us hanging,” Soma pressed.

“If… I told you I had enhanced eyesight, would you believe me?” Kratos said, at length.

“I mean she’s _part dog_ so I guess, yeah??” Soma said, gesturing furiously at Jade. Then his attention was entirely on her. “What is _up_ with that, anyway? You like, some kind of werewolf??”

Jade giggle-snorted into her hand, because _werewolf_ wasn’t even the most _interesting_ thing she’d heard anyone guess. Soma’s confusion was kind of endearing, too. “Haha, no!!” she told him, grinning widely. “ _Demidog_ ,” she corrected.

“A what.”

Jade giggled again.

“Like a demigod? But the god part of me is a dog,” she explained. “Basically.”

It was a lot more complicated than that, but the details confused even her sometimes and would be nonsensical to anyone who knew nothing about Sburb anyway, so it was easier and more polite to stick with the short version.

Soma nodded slowly at her, but he was squinting carefully. “You sure you aren’t just a furry?” he said, after a moment.

Jade laughed in gleeful, startled surprise. “First of all, I didn’t _ask_ to end up like this, it was an accident!!” she said. “Second of all—” She grinned, unable to keep a straight face as she leaned all the way into the joke: “ _Yiff yiff,_ motherfucker.”

Soma’s face was well, well worth all of it. He looked caught somewhere between mortified and delighted.

“Holy shit I’m traveling with a furry,” he breathed.

Jade cackled.

Kratos walked faster.

 

 - - - 

 

Snake had been here—in these weird desert ruins of what might have been a city once—for about an hour now. He’d done a thorough sweep of the place, and came up completely empty handed. No people. No remnants of those who used to live here. No explanation as to why he was here or how he was supposed to get back home.

On the second sweep of these ruins, Snake happened upon a group of people, turning the corner ahead of him. From the looks of them, they belonged here as much as he did, so, not at all. But maybe they knew what was going on. Maybe they didn’t. But any lead was a good one, right?

So Snake followed them.

“This some kind of abandoned cosplay convention?” Snake laughed quietly to himself, next time he got a good look at them. There were three people. Two kids in their late-teens, maybe early-twenties. The girl looked like a casual furry. The guy was wearing something that could either be cosplay or just bad fashion sense. And the third, an older adult man… He could have literally jumped right out of one of Otacon’s animes, especially with hair like that.

Smiling, Snake reached for his codec to relay the joke to Otacon, but then he remembered. No service out here for the codec to work, wherever the hell here was. Snake tried not to let it sour his mood too badly, but he was used to having Otacon chattering in his ear non-stop on missions, and it was… lonely, without his voice.

All the more reason to figure out where the hell he was and how to get back, Snake supposed.

The man stopped, suddenly, and not long after the kids with him.

“You heard it too?” the girl asked.

“What?” said the other kid.

Snake ducked behind the wall of the nearest building, cursing silently. He hadn’t been _that_ loud, had he? He was a _pro_ at this, and sand muffled footsteps like nothing else. Oh, but he wasn’t in a sneaking suit, was he? Just regular clothes. Those made much more noise. Damn.

“We’re being followed,” said a third voice—the man, probably, not that Snake was looking to see now. _Damn,_ they were really onto him!

Snake squeezed his eyes shut and went through his options. He didn’t have a gun on him. But then again, they probably weren’t his enemies. Maybe they could just talk this out…

“Hello!” chimed a voice, bright and chipper.

“Aurgh!” Snake leapt to his feet, head swiveling to his left, where the furry girl now stood. That was _not_ the direction he’d expected anyone to come from, they’d all been on the path on his right! He took a step back, but that brought him a hairs-breadth away from someone else. He could feel them, nearly against his back.

Slowly this time, Snake turned around. It was the anime man, his hand on the hilt of a definitely real sword that he’d withdrawn partially from its sheath. He stood like he knew how to use it, and had the muscles to further suggest that. Yikes. Snake put his hands up to show they were empty, and that he didn’t intend to reach for a weapon. That was just common sense.

“Okay, okay, you got me,” Snake said. “I’m not going to hurt you, though. Don’t even got a weapon on me.”

“One can cause many pains without a weapon, if they’re skilled in such methods,” the anime man argued, voice steady, eyes dark. His hand did not move from his sword.

“Alright, that’s true,” Snake agreed, thinking of all the CQC he knew, and that one time, in Afghanistan, with the dental floss. Actually, better not think about that. He shook his head a little. “But seriously, I’m just as lost as you guys are. I was only following you because I thought you mind have a lead.”

“You could have just… come out and _introduced_ yourself,” the furry girl said, scowling from behind her glasses.

“Uh…” She had him there. “Sneaking around is a bad habit…?”

Something about his tone must’ve conveyed enough to put the anime man—okay, Snake _had_ to stop calling him that—at ease, because he released hold of his sword, easing it back into its sheath. He still looked tense but… most people good at killing looked that way, to be honest. Especially in an unfamiliar place. Snake wouldn’t be surprised if he was giving off lethal energies, himself.

“Is it really?” said the kid with the bad fashion sense, peeking out from behind the man with the sword. He was studying Snake like he didn’t believe what he was seeing, something like recognition in his eyes. Weird…

Actually, the kid looked kind of familiar? Snake just couldn’t place why.

He lowered his hands slowly, since it was probably safe to do so now. “Well, if we want to do introductions,” he said. “My name’s Snake.”

The kid’s eyes absolutely lit up. “Like, _Solid_ Snake?” he asked, taking a cautious step forward. “ _The_ Solid Snake!?!”

Snake blinked.

“Yeah? You, uh. You a fan?”

Even if most of his operations were covert, Snake was well aware he had a few of them. Conspiracy theorists, usually. This kid definitely looked like he might spend all his days holed up in a cluttered apartment, reading conspiracies on the internet.

“Yeah!!” the kid said, grinning a little as he took a step closer. “Of course I am, the Metal Gear series is—” He broke off, something close to horror passing over his face. “Oh god do you even know that there’s a video game series about your life, because, there’s a video game series about your life.”

Snake slowly raised his eyebrows. “There is?”

Otacon’d probably love to get his hands on that.

“Yeah!!” The kid nodded, enthusiastic. “Might only be in my universe—we’re probably from different ones, Jade and I were talking about that, but anyway!! You’re? Iconic. You’re a hero. I love you.”

The kid coughed, flushing pink. Snake chuckled. This was a weird turn of events, but he was definitely interested. A game about his life, huh? Probably just all the Metal Gear bullshit, but Snake wondered what else had made it in. Hopefully nothing too private.

The kid cleared his throat. “Anyway uh can I please maybe have a selfie with you?” His voice was eager, his face still pink, but he was already pushing his coat to the side so he could reach into his back pocket for his phone as he asked. “Mina is never gonna believe this happened otherwise, I gotta tell her. And Yoko. Oh man they’re gonna be so jealous.”

Snake laughed a little louder, then gestured the kid over. “Sure, if you want. So long as you tell me more about these games when we have some downtime.”

“Oh absolutely.”

The kid leaned in, held his phone up, snapped a selfie. Snake smiled for it, and went along with the three more, posed for five others when the kid moved away just to snap full body shots of him. Might as well. The furry girl was giggling the whole time, and the man with the sword looked tense, maybe a little frustrated. Oh hell, Snake still didn’t know any of their names.

“What’s your name, kid?” he asked, starting with the one currently taking pictures of him.

“Oh yeah.” The kid slipped his phone back in his pocket, held out his hand to shake. “I’m Soma Cruz!”

 _Holy shit_.

Snake blinked a few times, ignoring the outstretched hand as the realization hit him.

“Like. The Castlevania character?” he asked, for clarification.

Soma blinked.

“I. What.”

Snake laughed, a little nervous, a little delighted. He could definitely see it now. That hair. Those _clothes_. This was. Incredible?

Otacon’d be so jealous.

“Well, turns out, Soma, there’s a video game based on your adventures, too,” Snake said.

Soma clutched at his head. He looked horrified and delighted.

“Oh my god what the fuck??” he asked, voice squeaking. “You’re joking?”

“I’m not,” Snake told him, grinning.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my god,” Soma said. “You played it? Tell me it’s a good game. Tell me I at least got a good game.”

Snake laughed, then had to shake his head. “Otacon loves it, but I only watched him play it,” he explained. “It wasn’t really my style. Anyway, hey… Can I have a selfie?” Snake reached for his own phone.

“YES,” Soma said, scrambling over to get into frame.

Snake laughed again, took a couple selfies, then one full body shot just so Otacon could appreciate the outfit.

“Are you two quite finished?” the man with the sword said, and, shit, Snake _still_ didn’t know his name.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Snake said, returning his phone to his pocket. “Can I have your names, though? I keep forgetting to ask.”

The man with a sword didn’t answer, just turned his head away. The furry girl rolled her eyes.

“I’m Jade,” she said, pointing to herself. “The guy with a stick up his ass is Kratos.”

 “We should get going,” Kratos said, instead of acknowledging what Jade had just said about him. “This isn’t a field trip.”

“I just met _Solid fucking Snake,_ it might as well be,” Soma said. He was flicking through his phone, likely admiring the pictures he’d just taken. “Even if Arikado’s gonna give me an earful when I get back, it will have been _entirely_ worth it.”

“Besides, having fun’s important,” Jade said, nodding likely this was some great wisdom. Maybe it was. Jobs were always more fun when you enjoyed them. (God, Snake missed Otacon.)

It was subtle, but Snake caught the way Kratos’ hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. “Time is of the essence,” he said, his voice wavering the slightest bit.

If he was holding his sword when there definitely wasn’t an enemy around, he must be anxious about something. Snake doubted anything he could say would make Kratos feel better, but might as well give it a shot:

“Hey, my husband’s gonna be mad I’m gone, too,” he said, trying to play it light. “You’re not the only one with family.”

“ _Husband?_ ” Soma whispered, sounding awed. Snake would have answered, but Kratos didn’t give him the chance.

“I believe I’m the only one here with family who is in grave danger should I be away for long,” Kratos argued, turning his head over his shoulder to send a sharp-eyed glare at Snake. “Do _you_ have any idea how to return to where we came from?”

Snake shook his head, holding his hands up as a peace offering. “No. Like I said, I’m just as lost as you.”

“Hmm.”

Kratos seemed disappointed by that.

“Actually,” Jade said. “I think I have an idea? I really really wish I’d thought of it sooner, to be honest!! But, anyway, seeing as my aspect is Space, and we’ve definitely got some weird teleportation stuff going on, I should be able to like…” She wiggled her fingers a little bit. “Use my spacey powers to sense what’s up? Honestly, it’d be weird if I _couldn’t_.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Soma told her, with a shrug. He’d finally pulled his eyes away from his phone.

Snake nodded, even though he really didn’t understand what she’d said even a little bit. Had Soma? Had Kratos? Snake couldn’t tell.

“The only problem,” Jade said, slowly looking crestfallen. “Is that I sure as heck can’t tell anything from here, and it’s… a long way back to where we first showed up. Even if I flew, it would take ages, probably.”

“You can _fly_!?” Soma spluttered. Snake raised his eyebrows, looking at the girl in a new light. Was she hiding _wings,_ along with the ears, or…?

“Oh! Yeah!” To prove it, Jade started floating a couple feet off the ground, effortlessly. She grinned widely. “God tier baby,” she said, like it meant something. Maybe it did?

“What the fuck,” Soma said.

Jade cackled and touched back down. Then she turned to Snake.

“Hey Snake, do you remember where you started?” she asked. “If it’s closer, I could look at that instead!! I doubt it’d tell me anything different.”

Snake grinned. “You’re lucky I specialize in tactical espionage and have these ruins mapped out in my head by now,” he said by way of answer. Soma looked so delighted Snake thought for a hot second he might faint outright, but the kid managed to keep it together. “This way,” Snake said, taking point.

Soma fell into step beside him, looking up at him—not that he had far to look up, Soma wasn’t _that_ short—with excitement in his eyes. “Hey,” he said, kind of quiet, but eager nonetheless. “When you said ‘husband’, earlier… did you mean Otacon? Sorry if that’s personal I just—”

“Yeah,” Snake interrupted, before Soma could apologize further. Maybe it was personal? But he always enjoyed talking about Otacon, and didn’t see the point in keeping this a secret. He sent a sideways look at Soma. “What? That detail not in those video games?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Soma answered. He looked honestly disappointed. “But I guess they didn’t spend much time on your personal life… Besides, anyone could tell, if they paid attention. Anyone could tell. That you really love him, and that he really loves you.”

Snake felt heat rising to his cheeks, like he was some kind of teenager again. He was a little embarrassed—what _had_ those games included?—but also incredibly fond. Maybe it was weird, or sappy of him, but the idea that someone else—maybe a _lot_ of someone elses—knew how much he and Otacon loved each other made him warm. Otacon always got flustered by that stuff, but Snake would gladly climb the nearest rooftop and tell the world how much he loved his husband.

He wanted to pull out his phone for pictures—did Soma know about Sunny? He wanted to brag about her too—but this was the building he’d landed in. He’d been out on a morning jog, and between one step and the next had ended up in this place.

“Here we are,” Snake said, gesturing. “Popped out in this building.”

Jade nodded, eyes flashing with determination. She rubbed her hands together. “Gotcha,” she said, pushing him gently to the side to stand in the middle of the building+. It was more intact than most of them, three of its four walls still standing, as well as most of the roof. The only thing that hadn’t survived was the furniture, destroyed and buried under mounds of sand.

Snake wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be watching for anything, but it wasn’t long before Jade nodded and made her observation.

“Okay, yeah, there’s definitely some kind of residue!” she declared. “I think there _was_ some kind of, like, space-rip that happened here? But it’s not, _here_ here, anymore. There’s only an echo of it.” She sighed, lowering her hands and shaking her head. “Guess that doesn’t do us much good. Maybe if you give me more time, I can—oh.”

“What?” Snake asked.

“Oh my god, another rip just opened up,” Jade whispered, eyes wide. “It’s that way.” She pointed to her left. Due east, if Snake remembered correctly. Not that it mattered, he guessed.

Kratos let out what might have been a sigh of relief. “Then let us—"

He was cut off by the sound of shouting.

**\- - -**

Soma and his companions—friends? Were they friends yet? He’d only known them an hour, and Snake for about five minutes, and _holy fucking shit he’d met Solid Snake,_ he was still kind of reeling about that one—

‘ _Soma,_ ’ roared a disappointed darkness in his soul. ‘ _Focus_.’

 _Yeah, yeah! I got it,_ Soma told Dracula, though he could skip with delight just at the fact he was doing so. He felt… bad, that Dracula was awake, after the deal they’d made and the sleep that Dracula had aimed to and totally deserved to get, but like. It wasn’t _his_ fault Dracula had woken up the moment they’d landed in bumfuck nowhere.

And honestly, Soma was glad he was here. He’d missed the dark lord.

Anyway.

Soma and his friends were running towards whoever the hell was screaming out in the middle of this desert, Jade leading the (haha) pack. She was cheating, by flying, but she seemed to have the keenest sense of the direction they were heading, so Soma wasn’t going to complain.

‘ _As if we couldn’t just follow the sound of that ridiculous noise,’_ Dracula argued.

“Haa,” Soma let the wheezing sort of laugh out of his mouth unintentionally, not that it mattered. Jade and Kratos were both pretty far ahead of him, Snake lagging a little behind. No one was close enough to hear, except Dracula remembered that Jade and Kratos both had enhanced hearing, which made Soma’s stomach flip-flop between strides. _No, no, it’s fine,_ he assured Dracula. Even if they’d heard, they weren’t close enough to _ask_. They’d probably forget all about it once they were done dealing with with whoever the fuck was out in the middle of the desert screaming their lungs out.

Dracula was not reassured, but Soma tried not to think about it. Which turned out to be pretty easy, seeing as they were close enough to make out words of the screaming, and that grabbed his attention instead.

“ALLLVIIIIISSS!!!” Was the roar in the middle of the scream, followed by a more coherent, twice as angry: “ _ALVIS_ I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! WHAT DID YOU DO!? THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!”

They rounded the final corner, and Soma slowed to a halt at the edge of what looked to be the town’s central square, except it was laid out in a giant circle, not a square. There were two large pillars towards the center, one mostly intact, the other missing its top half—some kind of statue, or a building? Or they had been at one point, anyway. Now it was just ruins, like the rest of the city.

Standing at the bottom of the taller pillar was a guy Soma would guess was probably his age, though honestly he was immediately distracted by the thing the guy was swinging around. It was an impressive, ridiculous, _gorgeous_ weapon, giant and red with a blue blade of light twice the height of the dude wielding it. He was currently using it to do some massive property damage to the pillar he stood beneath, though the weapon didn’t slice clean through—just left some nasty scorch marks. He was screaming and cursing the whole time.

What… a gigantic hissy fit.

Soma’s eyes flickered to Kratos, who stood to his left. Kratos was halfway into a fighting stance, body coiled like he was about to move at any second, hand on his sword. His face, though—eyebrows raised and mouth partway open—suggested he felt much the same about this situation as Soma did. This was ridiculous!

He turned his attention back to the blonde fucker doing property damage, wondering how the hell they were supposed to proceed from here. The darkness in his veins bubbled restlessly. There was… something, _something_ about that guy that made Dracula restless. Soma could feel it too, if he reached out with Dracula’s senses. There was some incredible swell of power, jangling anxiously against the body that held it. It honestly made Soma want to turn on his heel and run far, _far_ away, because it smelled like bullshit and that was the _last_ thing he wanted to deal with, but—Jade was approaching the guy, her feet touching the ground and one hand outstretched cautiously.

“Uh… hello?” Jade said, clearing her throat. And goddammit, Soma wasn’t going to just _leave_ her here.

The blonde fucker rounded on her, eyes wild, blade held ready to strike. “Who are you!?” he demanded.

Soma fidgeted anxiously, the darkness in his veins boiling, urging him to run. He wanted to yell at Jade, tell her to get out of there, because something about this guy was _wrong_.

“Well, I’m Jade,” Jade said, like an idiot. That guy looked _murderous,_ she couldn’t just casually introduce herself to him!!

“Where are we!?” the blonde fucker continued, over the half-formed words that left Jade’s mouth next. He leveled his blade at her, and Jade took a hasty step back so she wouldn’t get sliced by the action. “Are _you_ responsible for this?” His eyes seemed to _glow,_ blue and furious, power swelling around him.

“What? No!” Jade laughed. Soma clucked his tongue with impatience. She was going to get herself killed!

Soma stepped forward, despite Dracula’s protests and the darkness that tried to wrap around his leg muscles and halt them in place. He wanted to grab Jade and pull her back, but with Dracula actively trying to keep him away from the power that burned in that blonde fucker, the compromise was him standing two feet away from Jade, one hand outstretched. Dracula shoved Hellfire into his metaphorical hands to cast—‘ _That would take care of the problem just as well!_ ’—and the frustration in Soma boiled over as words spilling from his mouth.

“Look, I get you’re upset,” he told the blonde fucker. “I was too when I got teleported to bumfuck nowhere!! But I promise you, something fucky is just going on. It’s not like we _kidnapped_ you.”

The blonde fucker’s eyes swiveled towards Soma, mouth curling in distaste. There was something… unnatural, about the expression, like this face was a face not used to twisting in ways so foul. The sight was familiar, brought back the sensation of staring at his own face in the mirror—red eyes, fangs in a mouth that should not have them—muscles twisted in a similar way. Soma hastily blinked the image out of his mind’s eye, tried to push the persistently burning Hellfire out of his reach. _I’m not casting that yet,_ Soma told Dracula, and ‘ _Yet,_ ’ Dracula countered, sharp and somewhat smug.

“I have to go back!” the blonde fucker shouted, body shaking. “Everything- _Everything_ was about to fall into place, and if I stay here then it will be _ruined_!” He swung his sword through the air, and Soma jumped back on reflex. Jade flinched, but didn’t move, the blade coming within inches of her. “ _All_ of my _PLANS_ , all of my hard work—RUINED! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET MY REVENGE, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DEFEAT THE MECHONIS, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO—”

“Can you _fucking_ chill?” Jade interrupted, words sharp, but with all the patience of someone who was used to dealing with shit like this.

The blonde fucker’s eyes flashed, looking downright affronted. “How _dare_ you!?” he said. “How _dare_ you speak like that to me—to _me!_ A god!”

Disappointment slammed against Soma, disappointment and disgust, along with a roiling fury from the depths of Dracula. Just fucking fantastic, they were dealing with some motherfucker with a _god complex._ How fucking stupid.

Except this fucker sure felt like he had the power to match a claim like that. Hellfire burned in Soma’s mind again, Dracula urging to just take him out, take him out now—

Jade cackled, short and sharp and somehow delighted. “A god, huh?” she asked. She rolled her eyes as dramatically as possible. “ _You_? Come on.”

“You will pay for your insolence!”

The fucker swung his blade at Jade. She leapt back, but—

The blade of light _grew_ in length _,_ it caught Jade across the chest, it ripped her open. Soma wanted to tear his eyes away, but couldn’t, trapped in horrified fixation as Jade spluttered, eyes going wide as her life fled them, her body suspended in air for a second, two, before it fell to the ground in a grotesque slump.

Soma coughed and fell to his knees, choking on the bile that rose in his throat, bile and anger and disbelief. What the fuck. What the _fuck._ Dracula’s darkness and Hellfire burned in his veins, a deep desire to smite this disgusting man off the face of existence, desire like an all-consuming siren song that Soma might have given into had his stomach not been attempting to forcibly eject itself through his mouth. He’d only known Jade for an hour, and now she was dead. She was _dead_.

‘ _And you’ll be next,’_ Dracula roared, darkness hooking into his veins as if to pull him to his feet, only to be distracted by a sudden swell of holy power to their left. Soma couldn’t stop staring at Jade, but he knew Kratos was there, could _feel_ the energy Kratos was gathering, and the sensation sent off a million queasy pinpricks of memory in his mind. This was power like Julius’, power like every Belmont before him—

Let Kratos wield that awful light, though! If he intended to smite the fucker who had killed Jade, then _let him,_ that kid with a god-complex deserved it, he deserved it and more, because Jade was dead.

Jade was dead.

Grief filled Soma to bursting, chaos pounding at the edges of his mind. It was a sweet, sweet song, a roar, so easy to surrender to…

The clatter, of a blade falling to the ground.

The _thwump_ , of a body landing not long after it.

Soma wondered if Kratos had struck, but then, he could feel the holy magic still gathering. He forced his gaze towards the blonde fucker—

And found a boy, the same one, except his eyes were wide now with horror. “Wait, what did I,” he stammered. “Where- _What-_ What did—”

The pieces clicked together in Soma’s head.

How _fucking_ unfortunate.

“We can’t,” he started, dragging himself to his feet. _Fuck fuck fuck,_ he thought, as Dracula burned restlessly, not convinced even though _he knew as well as Soma what was going on_. “Kratos, we can’t—”

He was spared from having to convince Kratos of anything, because at that precise moment Jade started glowing. Rainbow and blinding, the light lifted her body off the ground, swirling around it like a galaxy. Soma watched, dumbfounded. Kratos’ magic stopped abruptly.

There was one final flash of light, and then Jade stood before them, looking annoyed but otherwise completely okay.

“Son of a dick, that wasn’t even _warranted_ ,” she swore, glaring at the blonde not-a-fucker.

She was…

… _alive??_

“What, praytell, the _fuck_ ,” Dracula said through Soma, stealing his mouth to ask the question. Soma didn’t mind too much, he would have asked literally the same thing.

“Conditional immortality baby,” Jade answered, with a shaky grin and a set of finger guns. “Sorry!! I guess I should probably make it a priority to tell new friends that’s, like, a thing? I’m okay. I didn’t worry you too badly did I?”

“ _You fucking died,_ ” was the only way Soma knew how to reply, his voice trembling around the shape of the words. He would be worried about Kratos and Snake—where the fuck _was_ Snake—and the blonde kid but he couldn’t tear his eyes from the apparently just fucking fine Jade. He raked a hand through his hair. Nervous laughter bubbled up in his throat and out of his mouth.

This had been a buck wild five minutes alright.

Jade smiled apologetically, face scrunching up in her worry. “Sorry!!” she said again.

“Can you explain to me how the hell someone can be _conditionally_ immortal,” came Snake’s voice. Soma’s eyes flickered his direction—he was hiding behind the nearest building, sticking his head out to speak. That seemed… in character.

“Yes!!” Jade said. “But I don’t think telling you the conditions when there’s a guy here who still maybe wants to kill us is a smart thing to do!!”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” The blonde kid hastily put up his hands. “I definitely don’t want to kill you? Or, _anyone._ What…” He looked really confused and kind of terrified. Definitely expressions that face was used to making, Soma thought. “Can someone _please_ tell me what is going on?”

Soma wasn’t sure where to start. _Hey Drac, real quick,_ he called into their soulspace.

‘ _Yes?_ ’ came the reply, disgruntled but willing to answer.

Meanwhile, Snake stepped forward, an explanation on his lips: “Well we came in on you screaming and throwing a fit, and then you killed our friend!”

“I- I did?” the blonde kid asked. After a second of hesitation, he continued: “Well, okay, I did. I remember that, or I remember- I remember _seeing_ that I’d, um, done it, but. I don’t remember getting here.” Horror entered into his voice: “Oh _no,_ where are my friends, Fiora and the rest, we were about to fight Egil—”

Soma wondered idly who the hell Egil was, but his attention was mainly on the conversation he was having with Dracula. _Is this… what I think it is?_ he asked.

‘ _Two souls bound in one body?’_ Dracula finished. There was a sensation of a soft laugh that reverberated in their soul, followed by the metaphysical equivalent of a nod. ‘ _It is_.’

Soma bit his tongue and inhaled deeply. _Hoooooo_ boy.

 _Do you think he knows?_ he asked.

 _‘Definitely not,’_ was Dracula’s instantaneous response.

Well fuck.

“—you got teleported here like the rest of us did,” Jade was in the middle of saying saying. God, paying attention to two conversations at once was hard.

“Is there- is there any way to get back?” the blonde kid asked. “We were _literally_ right outside his door, I…”

“I mean,” Jade said, “I can feel the energy that got you here, but I really don’t think I can make it send you back? Which is weird, since being a Witch is about manipulating Space, but maybe cross-universe travel is just breaking too many laws or whatever??” Jade made a sound that literally couldn’t be described in a way other than _a disgruntled woof,_ which elicited a startled laugh out of Soma. “Anyway!! Besides!!” Jade said, and now she was _growling,_ her ears laid back. “I’m not sure if I’d wanna help you anyway, since you did just attempt to kill me and would have succeed if I wasn’t dog tier! God tier! Same difference!”

The blonde kid started to get to his feet, hands held out in Jade’s direction before he seemed to realize that this was a bad idea. “I’m so so _so_ sorry about that,” he said, despair written across his face. “I don’t know what came over me, I wasn’t myself—”

Poor fucking kid.

 _We should tell him, right? We have to tell him,_ Soma asked Dracula, though Dracula immediately responded with a sense of discomfort, his darkness recoiling from the thought. _We have to,_ Soma insisted, with more force. _I don't like the idea of people being kept in the dark about things that involve their well-being…_

‘ _And what happens when he asks how we understand?’_ Dracula countered, his voice rumbling in a way that surely would have intimidated anyone else. (Except maybe Adri—Arikado. Or Any of the Belmonts, they were too damn cocky for that.)

 _Look, I don’t know,_ Soma admitted, folding his arms over his chest. _But if we don’t help him… it’s like not helping us, you know?_

Dracula hesitated for a moment, but then his darkness receded, relenting. ‘ _I suppose so…_ ’ he agreed.

Soma grinned.

“Soma?” came Kratos’ voice.

Soma looked up. “Hm?”

Kratos’ eyes drilled into him. “You’re awfully quiet for someone who acted like he knew what was going on five minutes ago.”

“Oh,” Soma said. Oops. “Sorry, we were deliberating.”

The darkness in him bubbled, anxious, angry, but it took the silence that followed from his companions for Soma to even begin to realize he’d misspoke. Every single one of them was staring at him in varying levels of shock.

“Wh… what,” Soma said, squinting. “What did I say?”

“Uh, you said ‘ _we_ were deliberating’,” the blonde kid answered.

“Emphasis on the plural _we_ ,” Jade added.

Soma blinked.

_Well hot fucking shit in a handbasket._

“R- Royal we?” he tried.

“Yeah kid I doubt it,” Snake argued, eyebrows raised like he didn’t believe it.

No one else seemed to buy it either.

“Hhhhhhhhhh,” Soma moaned. _Well, I tried,_ he told Dracula.

‘ _You did not,’_ Dracula argued, but Soma ignored him.

“Well, um, I guess we’re doing this,” Soma said. “Hi, I’m Soma, I’m bodysharing with an ancient incarnate of evil known as Dracula, who really isn’t evil, just a tired grumpy old man—” Dracula felt downright _murderous_ for being called that, which made it doubly worth it—“AND ANYWAY, That’s why I believe this guy here—” Soma swung his hands to point at the blonde kid. “—isn’t a threat after all!” A little dramatic, maybe? But if it got the attention off of him, then good. “ _He’s_ not gonna hurt us.”

Maybe the other fucker in his body would, but they could cross that bridge when they got there. If they got there. Hopefully they never got there.

Jade, who had been floating, slowly touched down on the ground, an understanding darkening her face.

Kratos didn’t move to put his sword away, but he _did_ relax considerably, which Soma counted as a good thing.

“Hrmg…” Snake said to himself, running a hand down his face. “Liquid…” The exclamation made Soma a little uncomfortable, because he was pretty sure he understood that reference? But also dear god he definitely did not want to think about it, about that, and anyway—

“Uh, thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess?” the blonde kid laughed nervously. “I’m not sure I entirely understand, though…”

Soma sighed, and walked over to him. The darkness in him continued to pull against the action, wanting to remain far away from the murderous intent and intense burning that sat in the depths of this guy’s veins. Trying to sense out the weight of that second soul was like trying to stare at the sun, it was so bright, so hot, so much. Soma set his jaw, though, told Dracula to chill, and ignored the sensation of darkness trying to anchor him in place, pressing through it.

“Listen,” he told the blonde kid, then paused, fed-up at having to keep mentally referring to him as that. “Hang on, what’s your name?”

“Oh! It’s Shulk.”

“Right, Shulk,” Soma said, nodding. He crouched down beside him. “Listen. As far as I can tell… you aren’t the only one in your body. Someone else is in there too.”

“I…” Shulk said, but as he thought about it, realization seemed to register in his eyes. “So that means, when Egil called me Zanza—" He looked at one of his hands, slowly closing it into a fist. “Ah.” He chuckled, but it was empty, broken, understanding. “I…” He buried his face in his hands. “I don’t like this at all.”

Soma chuckled too, though his laugh was more nervous. He patted Shulk sympathetically on the shoulder. “Tell me about it, buddy.”

Shulk was silent for a moment, something heavy seeming to sit in his lungs before he spoke: “How do I… keep that from happening again?” He looked up, slowly, blue eyes searching Soma’s face. “How do I keep Zanza from controlling me? _Can_ I?”

“Hmm,” Soma said, searching for an answer. He grabbed Shulk by the other shoulder, putting his face close to Shulk’s for dramatic effect. “Listen, you just- You gotta keep your head in the game.”

Shulk blinked.

“Wh- _what_?”

Soma chuckled nervously, dropped his hold of Shulk’s shoulders. “I dunno, man,” he admitted, sighing. _He’d_ never had much trouble remaining the dominant consciousness in his body, but that was probably because of the separation spell. It’d only been a problem for him when the curse started to take hold, but that was for but a brief moment, and now—well, Dracula was chill, now.

‘ _Chill?’_ Dracula asked, his tone conveying the image of eyebrows raised over disapproving eyes.

Soma laughed within their soulspace. _I mean, we made a deal, didn’t we?_ he shot back.

‘ _That we did,’_ Dracula agreed.

Anyway… surely, _surely,_ in those early—well, hours, Soma guessed. However long it had been, when he’d been in The Castle, right after discovering the truth of his reincarnated nature. What had helped him most, then, was clinging to what and who _he_ was, and not what and who Dracula was. So:

“Just like, try and keep a hold of _you_ are, I think, that’s what’s most important,” Soma said. “Makes it easier to not drown under the weight of someone else.”

“I… I see…” Shulk said slowly, like he was still processing.

“And, hey, as long as we’re traveling together…” Soma met Shulk’s eyes, trying to fix his face with an expression between sincere and maybe a little bit light-hearted so as to not be discomforting. “I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you don’t drown in there.”

Shulk blinked at him, scratching at his hair.

“Uhh… thanks? I guess?” Shulk said. “Why… are you helping me? Not- not that I don’t appreciate it! I just, uh…”

Saying _if I don’t help you it’s not like helping myself_ was maybe coming on a little strong so instead Soma went for: “It just, well, feels like the right thing to do?” When Shulk looked skeptical, he continued: “Because, like, I’ve been there.” He patted at his chest. “Me and Drac are chill now, but, we weren’t always, and… I get it. It’s kind of terrifying, sharing a body with something so powerful, so overwhelming. Hard to keep your head above the water sometimes.” He flashed Shulk a reassuring grin, though, clapping him on the back. “But, I believe in you! And… I will do everything in my power to help you out!”

An echo of a promise that all of his friends and guardians back home had made to him, which was maybe a lot to promise someone he’d literally just met, but. The words had already left Soma’s mouth. There was no taking them back.

‘ _Are you prepared to end his life, should it come to that?’_ Dracula butt in, calling to their shared mind the image of Julius. Determined eyes and a gentle smile, his hand on Soma’s shoulder as he promised that should Soma lose himself and Dracula be released, he would end their lives to prevent Dracula beginning a reign of terror.

Soma shivered under the weight of it. _Shut up shut up shut up,_ he sent back to Dracula, furiously pushing the image aside.

“I can help too, maybe,” came Jade’s voice. She sat herself down on the ground next to Soma, smiling wide. Her canine teeth were sharp enough to almost mistake her for a vampire, but, that was probably just the dog thing she had going on. She shrugged, still smiling. “I mean… I’m not really familiar with bodysharing with any kind of _murderous_ spirit, but like, I guess I’m pretty familiar with the bodysharing thing by now, hehe. Does it count when it’s a dog?”

Soma laughed in startled surprise. “A _DOG_?”

Jade gave him a kind of Look. “I told you the ears weren’t a thing I did intentionally!!”

“ELABORATE?”

Jade huffed and tugged her skirt down further over her knees. “Look! It probably wouldn’t make a lot of sense to you since you haven’t played Sburb, but I guess the short version is me and my dog—who had kind of godlike powers, for the record—fused? We fused.” She nodded, determined, then her expression got a little sad. “I’m… not really sure Bec is actually in here, though.” She tapped at her head. “But I _definitely_ get some weird dog urges every now and then.”

“Like what, to pee on trees?” Soma asked without thinking.

“NO!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!” Jade glared hard at him, looking horrified. “Like- like wanting to chase cats!! And random intense cravings for ridiculously raw meat!!”

“Hey I’m sure Soma understands that one,” Snake said, sauntering up to the party. He winked at Soma. “You get any urges to drink people’s blood?”

Soma jolted, blushing furiously. “No??? _No?????_ ”

‘ _Occasionally,’_ Dracula interjected, like a smartass. Was he just fucking with Soma? Probably. Was Soma certain of that? Absolutely not and it terrified him.

“Really?” Snake asked, eyebrows raised in what was either real surprise or mock surprise, it was hard to tell, though the dramatic way he clutched his chest suggested it was mocking. “I thought you had _Dracula_ in there.”

“Oh shit, yeah, like the vampire dude?” Jade asked.

Soma wheezed.

Shulk laughed the laugh of someone who didn’t quite know what was going on.

“I mean, yeah,” Soma said, “like the vampire dude, but—"

Kratos cleared his throat.

His sword was sheathed, now, but he didn’t look very happy.

“Perhaps we can continue this conversation as we continue moving,” Kratos said. His tone wasn’t upset, exactly, but it was cold in a way that actually reminded Soma a little bit of Arikado. “We do still need to figure out how to return home, don’t we? It sounded like Shulk had somewhere important to be.”

“That’s right!” Shulk jumped to his feet, urgent. “I need to get back. Right now. We were on our way to fight Egil, and if I’m not there to support my friends—”

“We can’t get you back right now, though,” Soma said, getting to his feet as well. “Unless—Jade?”

Jade was already shaking her head before Soma’d finished asking, floating into the air instead of standing like a normal person. “No! I already said, apparently Witch of Space powers don’t include being able to rip open _new_ holes, as frustrating as that is! All I can do is _sense_ them.”

“Well that’s not very useful,” Shulk snapped, his tone a little sharp. “I can’t just wander around until we happen to figure it out—I need to go back _now_!”

“Well,” Soma began, feeling antsy and wanting to defend Jade. He didn’t get further than that.

“ _Shulk…”_ whispered a voice, from all around them.

Soma didn’t recognize it, but Shulk obviously did, because he perked up, swiveling around to scan the area like he really wanted to see the owner of that voice.

“Alvis?” he called, hopeful.

“ _Do not worry_ ,” the man named Alvis responded, his voice continuing to echo. Soma could… sense him, sort of. Not his exact location, just that he was Here. “ _You will be returned to the exact moment you left, once all of this is over. Your friends will not miss you, and you will not miss your fight with Egil.”_

Shulk relaxed visibly. “What a relief…”

“Hey, Shulk,” Jade said, nudging him. “Who’s your invisible boyfriend?”

Shulk blushed. “Oh, um, I mean—”

Kratos spoke over him. “Alvis?” he called, sounding determined. “Is the same true for the rest of us? Can we all return to the very moment we left?”

There was hesitation long enough that Soma wasn’t sure this guy named Alvis wouldn’t answer. He was still _here,_ though, his presence clear and potent with Dracula’s vampiric senses. Much like that second soul that sat in Shulk’s veins, it was much vaster than any normal person could be.

“Well, Alvis?” Shulk prompted.

“… _Yes,”_ Alvis answered, after a moment. “ _The same is true for your companions. You can all be returned to the moment you left, should you so desire. But you will have to be patient, and wait until this is over.”_

“Until what is over?” Soma called, going out on a limb like Kratos had.

Alvis ignored his question.

“ _For now… simply follow the girl’s senses, and the path they will lead you down. You will understand.”_

And with that, Alvis’ presence was immediately gone from the air. Without saying goodbye? Or answering Soma’s question? Rude.

‘ _He did answer your question, though,’_ Dracula pointed out. ‘ _Cryptically, but an answer nonetheless.’_

 _Oh shut up,_ Soma thought back at him. “ _You will understand”_ did NOT count as an answer.

“Alvis?” Shulk called again. “Alvis, where are you, can you—”

“He is gone, Shulk,” Kratos interrupted. “I sensed his mana departing.”

 “Oh…” Shulk lowered his head, looking crestfallen. “He didn’t even say goodbye…” he mumbled.

Snake reached over and squeezed Shulk’s shoulder, affectionately, reassuringly. “He did help us out, though,” he said, smiling. “Now we know what we need to do. Jade? Can you sense anything now?”

Jade’s face scrunched up as she felt it out. “Nnnnnnnnnnn yes,” she said. Her ears perked up, eyes going distant. “It’s… It’s a really long way away, but I can _definitely_ sense another rip. It feels a little different, for some reason? But I guess we’ll find out why when we get to it!!” She grinned, starting to float off in what Soma guessed was the direction of the rip. “Shall we?”

There wasn’t really any reason to say _no,_ so they all started after her.

“You can _sense_ them?” Shulk asked, jogging a few steps so he was at pace with Jade, who slowed down but didn’t stop floating. “How does that work?”

“Oh! Well it’s because—”

Jade launched into her explanation, but Soma stopped listening, because Snake fell in step beside him then.

“Hey,” Snake said.

“Uh, hey,” Soma replied.

“It doesn’t have to be right now, but I gotta tell you, I’m dying to know more about the Dracula thing.” Snake’s tone was casual enough, but the words immediately struck fear into Soma’s heart. Remembering that apparently in Snake’s universe there was a video game based on his life and that Snake had played it didn’t help at all. How much did Snake already _know_?

“Uh,” Soma said, trying to find a place to start. “It’s. It’s a long story.”

“It’s a long walk.”

Fuck.

Soma let out a long breath but, like, if they were going to be traveling together for a while, he supposed he had to start telling them _some_ of the things.

“Alright, alright,” he said, and he began to explain.

**Author's Note:**

> [also please check out this very important meme Ruri made about Dracula specifically for this](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/457616655896281129/477654330128990228/unknown.png)


End file.
